LEGALIZING MARIJUANA JUST MAKES SENSE

A petition in California has placed a measure in support of the
legalization of marijuana on the ballot for November, and the success
of this measure will demonstrate the resolve of the American people
not to be ignored by their government.

The federal government has exhausted all avenues through which to
block the legalization of marijuana. They have inflated the budgets
of law enforcement and bloated our prisons; they have refused the
acknowledgment of well-known and well-regarded medicinal benefits,
and they have demonized a harmless plant and the proponents of its
use. They have done so consciously and maliciously, and the public
has lost patience.

There is no political cloud obscuring this issue; it is non-partisan.
The issue of the usage of marijuana is amoral because there is no
causal harm to identify. The issue of legalization is a moral one. Is
this not a victimless crime? Yet marijuana use is considered
criminal. We have filled our prisons with more trifling drug users
than violent offenders, and given out disproportionate sentences.

What arguments against legalization are left? Claims of marijuana
being more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes have no basis in fact.
Marijuana itself is not harmful.

According to "Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," published by the
United States Department of Justice in 1988, Francis Young, the DEA's
administrative law judge, said marijuana is safer than most foods we
eat, and eating 10 raw potatoes can induce death while it is
impossible to die from marijuana consumption.

"Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically
active substances known to man," he said. "By any measure of rational
analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine
of medical care."

The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, is not harmful. It has a
number of superbly beneficial medical applications. According to
"Marijuana Cuts Lung cancer Tumor Growth" published by the American
Association for Cancer Research on March 17, 2007, THC has been shown
in trial research to inhibit tumor growth. If current experimental
trends continue, we could see a change in how cancer treatment is
approached. Instead of reactionary treatment: preventative care.
Instead of chemotherapy: brownies. Safe, effective cancer treatment
is a cause every American champions.

Some methods of marijuana consumption can be harmful, namely the
smoking of marijuana. All smoke is carcinogenic. According to "Harm
Reduction Associated with Inhalation and Oral Administration of
Cannabis" by Franio Grotenhermen published in 2001 by the Journal of
Cannabis Therapeutics, the harm to be found in the smoking of
marijuana is the same as the harm in the inhalation of any smoke.
Cigarettes are more harmful. There is more to a cigarette than
carcinogenic smoke. Cigarettes are a combination of carcinogens that
damage every organ in your body.

Alcohol is also more harmful than marijuana. Alcohol destroys the
liver, among other life-threatening side effects. However, both of
these more harmful products are legal.

Marijuana is said to be highly addictive, but according to
"Prevalence and Demographic Correlates of Symptoms of Dependence on
Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana and Cocaine in the U.S. Population"
published by Drug and Alcohol Dependence in 1997 and retrieved from
drugpolicy.org, marijuana does not cause physical dependence.
Additionally, medicinal marijuana has been shown to have an extremely
low incidence of dependence.

Studies on THC show a lack of an unambiguous mechanism to establish a
physical addiction, unlike the legal substance nicotine. Marijuana is
addictive in the same way having fun is addictive.

There are many arguments supporting marijuana's legalization.

According to "Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy" by
Alison Statemen and published by Time in 2009, Judge James Gray, a
superior court justice in Orange County, Calif., said, "Legalizing
marijuana and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute, and imprison
nonviolent offenders could save the state $1 billion a year."

These funds could be used for more important issues, like combating
terrorism or improving public education.

Legalizing marijuana will allow us to downsize our prison system.
After the introduction of our crass "war on drugs," the U.S. has
eclipsed all other countries, including China, in per capita inmates.

According to "Drug Related Crime" published by the Office of National
Drug Control Policy in 200, 25 percent of all federal prison inmates
and 41.9 percent of all state prison inmates were incarcerated for
drug-related offenses. Reducing the burden on our over taxed prison
system would not only reduce cost, but benefit the safety of this society.

If marijuana is legalized, sales tax revenue would represent a
significant source of income for the government. According to "Can
Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy," the state of California
already brings in about $200 million in medical marijuana sales, and
California tax experts claim a potential of $1.4 billion in sales tax
revenue if marijuana is legalized.

Alcohol and cigarettes are both significantly more harmful than
marijuana, yet citizens have the legal right to use them both. If the
government is to uphold the ideals of the Constitution, then they
must legalize less harmful substances, or ban all of them. The
history of civil rights in the U.S. proves that when public opinion
changes, government policy changes to match. Public opinion on
marijuana is changing. Old myths and propaganda are falling to
increased public awareness of the facts.

Every citizen can be a driving force in the fight for legalization.

Call, e-mail and write letters to members of Congress.

Force open the eyes of the establishment. Bring marijuana out of the
dark. Legalize today.